Will Allen to appear as keynote speaker at 'Food in Bloom' conference

When it comes to green farming, Will Allen, a 2008 MacArthur Fellow and self-described urban agriculturalist, goes above and beyond the call of duty.

With his innovative farming techniques, Allen has brought organic farming to the urbanized areas of Milwaukee and Chicago, providing lower-income families with high-quality foods necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Allen was listed in TIME Magazine’s May issue as one of the “100 most influential people in the world,” and on Thursday, Allen will be the keynote speaker for the “Food in Bloom: Cross Pollination and Cultivation of Food Systems, Cultures and Methods” conference at IU.

Raised as a farmer’s son, Allen grew up with the knowledge of how to grow and maintain a wide variety of crops, said Jim Price, public affairs coordinator for Allen’s non-profit company, Growing Power.

“He wanted his own retail farm stand and found a place on the north side of Milwaukee that was the last piece of property in the city that was zoned for agriculture,” Price said.

With freedom to grow his own crops, Allen began to improve the poor condition of the urban soil with techniques his father taught him, Price said.

“He loves to say, ‘Good farming all starts with the soil,’” Price said.

The hallmark of Allen’s innovative farming techniques is his uniquely composed soil.
 Using everything from leftover kitchen scraps to waste products of microbreweries, Allen was able to create a unique organic soil rich in nutrients, vital to the successful growth of his crops, Price said.

“We use all kinds of organic waste, but we don’t like to think of it as waste because we put it to very good use,” Price said.

After the compost is formed, Allen’s soil goes through a secondary refinement process that involves worm bins and depositories that make the soil more sustainable for crops, Price said.

“We have millions and millions of worms here working day and night to turn already good compost into really, really great compost,” Price said. “It’s the most extraordinary fertilizer available.”

After a while, Allen’s farming techniques caught the eyes of neighborhood children who wanted to know how Allen got his crops to grow so well in the middle of the city, Price said.

Allen saw an opportunity.

“He took it upon himself to become a trainer and started a little group with these kids and called it Youth Corps,” Price said.

Youth Corps takes children of all ages out of the public school system and teaches them not only urban agriculture but life and leadership skills as well, Price said.

The Food in Bloom convention will feature Allen as its keynote speaker and the only presenter that is free to the public, University Communications representative Steve Chaplin said.

The 12th annual meeting is a collaboration between the Association for the Study of Food and Society, the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, and the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and will feature four days of food science presentations and organizational meetings as well as tours of farms and
food-related businesses.

This is the first time the conference will be held at IU and will include presentations from professors and researchers, giving students and other faculty members a chance to present innovative research as well as informative lectures, Chaplin said.

“For the general public, the real opportunity is to hear Will Allen speak,” Chaplin said. “Hopefully, it will leave you with not only knowledge of growing your own food but to leave inspired to work toward a more sustainable and economic system in your environment.”